Legislative Achievements

Below are five pieces of legislation attributable to the work of the Women's Pension Project.

• The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) made changes helping women more easily return to court after a divorce to obtain pension benefits earned during a marriage, and requiring plans to provide an additional survivor benefit option. The PPA also made improvements to the Railroad Retirement Act so that former spouses may begin collecting benefits based on the employee's eligibility and also ensures that former spouses receive survivor benefits. Learn more about the PPA.
• The Tax Reform Act of 1986 ensures that women (and men) are able to earn pensions faster, and will not have their benefits completely offset by their social security payments.
• The Retirement Equity Act of 1984 provided critically important benefits to millions of widows and divorced women whose husbands worked for private sector employers.

• The Civil Spouse Retirement Equity Act of 1984 provided similar benefits to widows and divorced women whose husbands were federal employees.
• The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 provided small pensions to office workers covered by plans where most of the benefits go to company officers and owners